An Alternate Path
by GreenFlameImmortal
Summary: What if Shadow Hearts: Covenant followed the good ending of Shadow Hearts one? Definate spoilers for Covenant.
1. Chapter 1

Note: The story takes place right after Shadow Hearts one, and it follows the good ending. So I'm pretty much writing Shadow Hearts: Covenant all over again from different ending. Woot. It'll have much more complications now since Alice doesn't die, and Yuri won't go to Domremy, he won't meet Karin there. So how will he learn about all the evil he has to fight in the second one? XD Can't wait to get to all that.

For now however I wanted to just have a little romance story between Alice and Yuri, so no action for now, just a bunch of mushy stuff. Hope you enjoy.

Oh and Alicia, if your reading this right now I just have one thing to say to you…. RANK NUMBER ONE IN THE FIRST GAME BABY!!!!!! Ohhhh yeah.

Disclaimer: I don't own Shadow Hearts.

Yuri slowly opened his eyes, being pulled from a deep sleep by the sound of the train's horn. He lifted his head from Alice's and looked out the window. Finally they arrived in Zurich. He looked down to Alice, who was still sleeping, and smiled down at her. He put his head against hers once more and whispered softly into her ear, "Alice, we're here. It's time to wake up." When she refused to wake up again he nudged her gently with his head.

Alice's eyes fluttered open when Yuri nudged her. She sat there, dazed for a moment, then looked up to Yuri. It all came back to her now. She looked out the window to see they had arrived at their destination. "My mother should be waiting for us here," she said to Yuri as she stood up.

Yuri didn't stand up just yet, but stared at Alice as she stood there. The lighting made her look breath taking. Even without the perfect lighting he thought she was still gorgeous.

Alice stared back at him, then looked from side to side. "Is there something on my face?" she asked.

Yuri smiled and shook his head no. Finally he stood up and stretched his arms way over his head and let out a large yawn. "We'd better get off now," he said, pointing out the obvious.

Alice giggled softly and nodded in agreement, turning to the right and walking down the aisle of the train. Yuri watched her for a moment, then reached up and grabbed the small single bag they had brought with them. They had traveled so much they learned to live with only a few pairs of clothes, so theirs combine fit into one bag easily.

Quickly Yuri caught up with Alice, feeling nervous about meeting the mother of the woman of his dreams. 'What if she hates me?' Yuri asked himself. He had never cared about what people thought of him, until now. He wanted to make a good impression on Alice's mother. He'd do anything for her.

They reached the outside and coughed a little because of the smoke being let out from the engine. Alice searched the crowd, trying to find that one familiar face. She glanced over at Yuri and saw how tense he was. She placed her hand on his arm, watching him jump, then said in a reassuring voice, "It's ok. She'll like you."

Yuri nodded, not feeling much better, and said, "I hope so." He cringed when he heard a female voice calling Alice's name. She sounded very much like Alice herself, so he knew it had to be her mother. He followed the woman's voice to the owner, and was astonished as to how much Alice and her mother looked alike.

Alice smiled and ran over to her mother, throwing her arms around her. It had been such a long time since she last saw her. She had been so caught up with her travels with her father that she rarely had time to come visit her. "Mother, it's been so long," Alice said, still holding onto her mother.

"Alice, it's so wonderful to see you," her mother replied warmly. They stood there in one another's embrace for a minute or so before they broke apart. Alice's mother seemed to notice Yuri standing off to the side with a dumbfounded look upon his face. "Is this the man you told me about?" she asked Alice quietly, inclining her head towards him.

Alice nodded and walked next to Yuri, taking his hand and leading him over to her mother. "Yes, this is Yuri." Alice turned to Yuri and smiled, "Yuri, this is my mother, Elizabeth."

Yuri and Elizabeth exchanged friendly glances and nodded. "Hello, Elizabeth. It's a pleasure to meet you." He bowed his head and shook her hand when she offered it to him. He tried not to sound stupid, or nervous, but he was afraid he already failed in trying to do that.

Elizabeth watched Yuri for a moment and could hear his voice trembling slightly. She laughed and smiled, "It's a pleasure to meet you too, Yuri." Yuri still had her hand, and she wondered when he was ever going to let it go. "May I have my hand back, please?" she asked him.

Yuri's cheeks flushed. He hadn't realized he was still shaking her hand. "Oh, uhm, sure you can," he replied, letting go of her hand. He stared at the ground, not wanting to say anything else. He had already made a fool of himself and he didn't want to make it worse.

Elizabeth continued to smile, and gave Alice a look of approval. They all stood there in silence for a moment, then Elizabeth put her hands on her hips and said, "Well are we going to stand here all day, or would you rather us get home so we can eat. I'm sure you haven't eaten anything on the train. You must be famished."

Yuri was about to say that he wasn't that hungry, but his stomach spoke for him. He laughed slightly and said, "Yeah, I guess we are pretty hungry. Well, I am at least."

Alice giggled and said, "Yes, I'm quiet hungry myself."

Elizabeth nodded, "I was hoping you'd say that. I spent all day preparing a special meal for your arrival." She turned and began walking, then turned to say, "If you don't mind, I think we should walk. My house isn't far, and it's such a nice day out."

Alice and Yuri both nodded and followed behind her. Yuri leaned over close to Alice and whispered, "She seems real nice. You two look alike too. I guess you take after you mother a lot."

Alice nodded and replied back also in a whisper, "Yes, people often mistake us for sisters." She looked at Yuri and noticed he wasn't so nervous anymore. She was glad for that. Now he might start acting more like himself again. Ever since they got on the train he'd been quieter than usual, just anticipating meeting her mother. Alice wished she could have met his parents, and that Yuri could have met her father.

Yuri slung the suitcase over his shoulder and walked the rest of the way to Elizabeth's house in silence. It felt weird to be monster free for this long. He hadn't done battle since he fought Meta God in the stratosphere. Though he had to admit it was nice to know what it felt like to be a normal person for a few days.

A nice breeze began to blow by, and for a few seconds Yuri simply enjoyed the feeling of the cold air against his face. Then grinned slightly and slowed his walking so that Alice was in front of him by two small steps. As the wind blew it brought her mini skirt up just a tad so that he could catch a glimpse of her lavender panties.

Alice looked behind her, oblivious to what Yuri was doing, and asked, "Are you ok?"

Yuri blinked and looked up to Alice, feeling his face turn red, and said, "Uhm yeah I'm fine Alice. Just…err…thinking that's all."

Alice noticed the wind at that moment and felt her skirt flapping up and down against her thighs. Her cheeks as well turned a deep shade of red, "Oh, I see," she said softly.

Yuri rubbed the back of his head, feeling a little stupid at the moment. He couldn't help it though, he was a guy, and she was attractive. There was an awkward moment between the two, but it was broken by Elizabeth when she called out to them, "Well there it is."

Yuri looked beyond Alice to the house that was not far ahead of them. It was a nice little one-story house. Alice too looked at the house, glad to see it once again. It had been quite a few years since she had last been home, and now she finally was again. Though there was a part of her that wished she were still on an adventure. They got into quiet a few tight spots, but they always pulled themselves out of them. In a sense it was actually fun to her.

Elizabeth led the two inside and instantly the sweet smell of her cooking filled their noses. It made Yuri and Alice all the more hungry now. "You can set that bag down right over there," Elizabeth directed at Yuri.

Yuri nodded and put the suitcase down off to the side where no one would trip over it. He stood there, staring at the wall for a while. There were tons of pictures hung up on this one wall. He heard Alice and Elizabeth talking, so he let them talk while he walked down the wall and looked at each of the pictures. There were some of just Alice and Elizabeth; they almost did in fact look like twins.

In most of them Alice looked to be just a little younger than she was now. Perhaps five years younger. She hadn't changed much since then, however. He stopped when he past a family portrait. This was the first one he came across with Alice's father in it. Yuri guess that the reason for that was her father wasn't home much. From what he gathered on their journey together, Alice's father was searching for the stolen books from the Vatican most of the time.

Yuri thought that Alice didn't resemble her father much at all. Maybe she had his eyes. The major difference between Alice and her mother was that Alice had sparkling blue eyes, and her mothers were a light shade of brown. Yuri couldn't tell from the black and white picture whether her father had blue eyes or not, so he didn't ponder on the thought much. He moved down the line of pictures and stopped at one where Alice was a little girl.

Yuri let out a burst of laughter when he saw the picture. Alice was not a cute child at all. '_She really grew into her looks_' Yuri said in his head. Alice had chubby cheeks and a goofy smile. Usually chubby cheeks on a kid were cute, but not for Alice. It just didn't work. Her hair was very long when she was little, pulled back into a long braid. Her hair was slightly frizzy, not doing her any justice.

Yuri looked over at his shoulder to Alice, then back to the picture. He couldn't believe that was her. "I hate that picture," Alice said suddenly from beside Yuri.

Yuri jumped and looked at her. He tried not to laugh, and said, "But it's so cute."

Alice's cheeks were red, and she gave him a look as if to say, 'Yeah right, liar.' She sighed and shook her head, "I don't know why mother keeps it up here."

Yuri's stomach stopped him from speaking any further, and made Alice giggle. "Oh yeah, my mom said dinners ready anytime we are. From the sounds of it your ready to eat now."

Yuri rubbed the back of his head and nodded, "Yeah, I haven't eaten since yesterday."

The two of them walked side by side to the dining room. Elizabeth made a variety of food for them to eat. She made a roast and ham. There was some fried eggplant, rolls, spinach, corn on the cob, and baked potatoes. Plenty for them to eat, and have left over's for tomorrow as well.

Yuri took a seat next to Alice, and wasn't shy about eating. He filled his plate with a little bit of everything and chowed down. It was fun evening. Elizabeth told embarrassing stories of Alice when she was little, like every mother does to their child. Yuri laughed at most of the stories. Most of them were about Alice doing something completely stupid. He just couldn't imagine the smart girl he knew now doing all those stupid things.

Elizabeth told about the time Alice accidentally set a cats tail on fire when she was two years old. "It was a good thing I was not to far off, or the poor cat would have been burnt to a crisp!" she exclaimed.

Alice's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment the entire night. She wished her mother would stop, but she never seemed too. Every time she thought that maybe she had run out of stories to tell, she always surprised her and began telling yet another one.

Yuri could see how frustrated and embarrassed she was getting, so he thought it would be nice tell some stories of himself to show that everyone did stupid things when they were little. There weren't many stories that he could tell her, though. He wasn't that old when he his parents had died, so there weren't many memories he could tell her. Most of the other ones involved the times when he was constantly in battle with monsters, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to tell Elizabeth about all that, at least right now that was.

Alice smiled and saw what Yuri was trying to do for her. She was relieved that her mother was busy listening to Yuri speak instead of trying to think up more stories that she could embarrass her with.

Finally they stopped with the silly stories and all began to ramble on, talking about anything that came to their minds at the time. At one point they were all laughing so hard they had tears forming at the corners of their eyes. As their laughter finally died down, Elizabeth glanced at the clock and gawked, "Wow, nine already. Time sure does fly."

They stood up from the table and every one helped to clean it off. Alice and Yuri offered to do the dishes since Elizabeth was the one who did all the cooking, and she looked extremely tired now.

As they washed the dishes Yuri kept splashing Alice with water playfully, and Alice couldn't do anything since she wasn't near the sink and was just drying the dishes. It took them ten minutes longer than it should have since they were messing around, and at the same time trying to be quiet so Elizabeth could sleep.

When they were done Yuri got their suitcase and walked to the other side of the house with Alice. There was a spare bedroom right across from Alice's, and Yuri wasn't sure what he was supposed to do now. All the time they traveled together they slept in separate bedrooms because they traveled with several others.

Alice turned to look over her shoulder and saw Yuri just standing there. "Coming?" she asked with a smile and walked in her old room. It was just as she had left it all those years ago.


	2. Chapter 2

Yuri stepped into Alice's room, arching his eyebrow as his glance darted around the room. Alice seemed like a girly girl, but not like this. There were porcelain dolls on shelves all around the room. It was kind of creepy in a sense. He shuttered slightly when he remembered the encounter they had with a possessed doll on one of Alice's little exorcist jobs she decided to take.

Apparently Alice was thinking the same thing because all she did was look around the room and stare. 'Why on earth do I have all these dolls?' she asked herself. As she turned around to gaze at all the pale glass dolls, she met Yuri's gaze. The two of them stood there staring at each other, realizing they were thinking of the same incident, and burst out into laughter.

When the laughter came to a stand still Alice held her hands behind her back and rocked back on her heels for a moment, and then said softly, "Maybe I should get rid of these."

Yuri chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. "I wonder if pops would have a heart attack if we sent him one," Yuri said with a smirk.

Alice raised her hands to her mouth and giggled, "Now that's not very nice," she scolded, but in a soft tone of voice. Moments after she yawned and the fatigue hit her and she realized how tired she was. She looked at her bed and laughed. It was blue with white ruffles around the edges. It was at that moment she realized how girly her room was. That used to be her, but not anymore. She had changed a lot over the course of her journey with Yuri and the others. She was tougher now. She was still a girl, but not to this extent. It was _too_ girlish for her now.

She'd worry about changing her room later; for now, sleep was calling for her. She didn't bother to change into her sleeping clothes, and simply crawled on her bed and pulled back the blue comforter and slide under them, resting her head on the soft pillows. She was so used to just getting in bed without putting a nightgown on or something. They always had to be ready when they were still traveling around. They'd never know when there'd be trouble and they'd have to rush out the door, so they just grew used to sleeping in their clothes. All Alice did was take out her hair tie.

Yuri just stood there staring at Alice as she bent over and crawled into bed. He set down their suitcase on the dresser and figured he'd wait till tomorrow to unpack. He was pretty bushed himself.

Alice was out almost the second she hit the pillow. She looked cute while she slept, Yuri thought, and so peaceful. Her hair was sprawled out across her pillow, and her bangs neatly fell to the side. Her fair skin was even paler in the moonlight that crept through the window and shone down upon her.

Yuri just stood there, adoring her, then walked around to the other side of the bed. Gently he pulled back the covers and lay down next to her, making sure he didn't move to suddenly so that it wouldn't cause her to wake up. Carefully he brushed her hair to the top of her pillow and laid his head on the pillow right beside hers, and places his arm around her waist. A small, kind smile spread across his lips, and soon he drifted off to sleep.

Yuri flinched in his sleep, and started to sweat. A few moments later, he awoke on the cold ground of the graveyard he had been to so many times before. He knew exactly where he was even before he opened his eyes. The stench of the place was a dead give away. He opened his eyes and lifted his head. "Yup," he said, frowning. "Didn't think I'd have to come back to this shit hole ever again. I thought I took care of those damn masks," he mumbled as she got up to his feet and dusted himself off.

Yuri walked down the steps and deeper into the graveyard, pausing to examine the tombstones and see if anything about them had changed recently. He didn't notice anything different about the place, but kept walking until he came to the steps that led up to the door the masks were perched outside of.

"Long time no see," He said sarcastically to the four masks as he encroached them.

Sword mask spun around and laughed, "Hohoho, I see you've finally arrived. It's been quiet a while, hasn't it Yuri."

"Yes it has, though I can't say that I've really missed you guys," he said spitefully, folding his arms in front of his chest and staring at them. "So, why did you bring me back here after all this time? I was getting used to not seeing your smirking faces anymore."

Staff mask twirled around and said, "Such hurtful words, though it doesn't matter. Our revenge will come soon."

Yuri cut Staff mask off before he could continue speaking, "Yeah yeah yeah, I'll believe it when I see it. You told me you'd take Alice's soul, but that didn't happen now did it? I can handle what ever lame ass plan you throw at me."

Grail mask spun like the others, "This time the plan is a little different. We don't plan to take her from you. We aren't so stupid as to try something twice when it failed the first time."

Yuri arched his eyebrow, "Oh really, and just what are you planning to do?"

Gold mask twirled, "Hehehe, do you really think we're going to just up and give away our plan. We just brought you here to let you know that something big is going to happen when you least expect it."

Yuri couldn't help but laugh. "That's it? You just brought me here to tell me that something was going to happen? Please. Like I said before, I can handle anything you throw at me."

The four of them all laughed and exchanged glances with each other. "Well then, if you're not to worried about it, just go back to the world of the living. You'll see soon enough what we intend to do. Then when you look back on this moment, you'll regret not taking us seriously."

Yuri turned his back to them and waved his hand, "Yeah, whatever." He walked away from them, furious that they dragged him down there to threaten about doing something, which Yuri figured they really didn't have any sort of plan. He'd worry about it when they decided to actually set it into action.

Yuri came to the hard steps to the entrance and walked up, pushing the gate open and walking through.

"Yuri, are you ok. Please wake up," said familiar voice.

Yuri opened his eyes and gazed into the blue eyes that were inches from his, staring back at him. "I'm ok, Alice," he said, reaching up to rub his face.

"You were brought back to that place again, weren't you? I heard you talking in your sleep, it was…them, wasn't it," Alice said in a low and concerned voice.

Yuri sighed, looking away from her and nodding his head. "Yeah, it was them. Don't worry though, they aren't coming after you anymore, they gave up on that after I killed Atman. Even if they do, I'll protect you."

Alice watched and said, "I'm not afraid to die for something I love. It doesn't matter to me whether they come after me or not. I thought maybe they were going to harm you."

Yuri looked back at Alice and smiled slightly. He reached up and brushed her soft white hair behind her ear and said, "Hehe, they can't hurt me."

Alice smiled back and laid her head on Yuri's chest. She closes her eyes and replied, "Ok," before she fell back into a deep slumber.

Yuri put his arm around her and gently stroked her head while she slept. He, on the other hand, couldn't fall so easily to sleep. He kept wondering what the masks were planning to do. He knew he had said he wasn't worried about it, but deep down he was. What if they were lying, and they were going to try going after Alice again. He didn't know what he'd do without her.

'They're just bluffin',' he said thought. 'This is what they want me to do. Sit here and worry about it like this. Hmph.' Yuri pushed all the thoughts from his mind and closed his eyes, trying to find sleep again. Four twenty minutes he lay there simply with his eyes shut; he still couldn't sleep.

'The next time they bring me back there, I'm gonna kill those bastards again.' Yuri sighed and continued to lay there, finally drifting into sleep.

Note: My entries are going to get a little slower and slower. See, when I played Shadow Hearts: Covenant I wasn't into it and tried to rush through everything. Only because I could only play it when I went to my fathers house, and I didn't go over there very often at the time, so yeah. I wanted to get through it before a year when by, lol. I want to play Shadow Hearts: Covenant while I'm writing this so I can go through and see what happened, and how I want to change it to go with the flow of the story. BUT the reason it's going to be slow is that my brother is grounded from the ps2 so I get punished as well, so yeah. I may not have access to it for a while. It sucks.


	3. Chapter 3

Yuri and Alice were both awoke by the sound of a high-pitched, female scream that echoed through the house. They both jumped up and looked around. Yuri turned to Alice and asked, "What was that?"

Alice was still trying to wake up, but then realized that it was her mother that let out the ear-piercing scream. "That was my mom!" she cried and jumped up from bed and ran to the door, Yuri following right behind her. They burst through the door and ran down the hall into the living room.

"Where's the monster at?!" Yuri yelled, looking around and taking a battle stance.

"Monster?" Elizabeth repeated curiously and stepped out from the kitchen. She raised her hand to her mouth and chuckled, then explained, "Well, I wouldn't call it a monster really. There was a rat in the kitchen. Sorry about the scream, he startled me that's all. I already took care of it; you can go back to bed."

A drop of sweat ran down Yuri's forehead, and he straightened himself up and rubbed the side of his head. "Oh, uhm, ok." He looked over at Alice and saw how red her cheeks were. She was clutching her small bible and was as ready to fight as Yuri was. He laughed, then reached his arms high above his head and yawned. "Well, I'm up now."

Alice sighed and lowered her book. Her heart was racing, and it was beating so hard she felt as though it was going to pop out of her chest and onto the floor. The memories of her father on the night he was murdered came back to her. She didn't know what she would do if her mother was killed by monsters, who were most likely simply being attracted to the house by Yuri and her.

"You ok?" Yuri asked as he stepped closer to Alice, putting his hand gently on her shoulder.

Alice jumped slightly at the slight feel of his had. She saw it was only Yuri, and nodded, "Yeah… I'm fine," she replied.

Yuri looked at her and nodded slowly. He knew something was bothering her, but when he looked into her deep blue eyes he could read her like a book. "Ok," he said softly. "Well, lets get some breakfast, shall we?"

Alice nodded. After Yuri insisted that he cook for her and her mother, she took a seat at the dinning room table and waited. Her and her mother exchanged words while Yuri was cooking, and just caught up on old times some more. They stopped and both stared at the kitchen entrance when they heard a bunch of pots and pans rustling around. They wondered if it was safe to eat Yuri's food.

Yuri came out soon after that and set the plates down in front of them. They had bacon and eggs, and a side of toast on them. Yuri rubbed his head and said bashfully, "There was supposed to be some hash browns too, but… they caught on fire and I don't think you'd want to eat them now."

Alice and Elizabeth burst into laughter. "We were wondering what all that racket was," Elizabeth exclaimed.

Yuri smiled and watched the two start eating, then Alice noticed that Yuri didn't make a plate for himself. She looked up at him and asked, "Are you going to eat?"

Yuri shook his head no, and then explained, "No, I have to do something. I'm actually going to head out the door right now. I'll be back later though." He bowed his head to Elizabeth and Alice, then turned to walk into the kitchen and to the front door.

Alice took his hand and said, "Where are you going? I can accompany you if you'd like. I'm almost done with my breakfast. You don't know your way around the town anyway, I can show you."

Yuri smiled and kindly declined her offer. "I'll find my way around. This is something that I have to do alone though. Don't worry. I'll only be a few hours, then I'll come back here." Slowly he took his hand from Alice's and turned to the kitchen again.

Alice watched him walk off. She wondered where he was going. She was worried about him now. Alice sighed and shook her head. '_Oh stop worrying. It's over. We're not going to have any run in with any monsters. I don't feel any unwanted spirits in this town anyway. So there's nothing to worry about. Besides, he knows how to take care of himself,' _she thought to herself. She knew she needed to get used to the fact that they weren't going to be fighting all the time, and that they actually had time to kick back and be carefree.

Alice didn't know what to do with herself during the time that Yuri was out. Just sitting around the house felt so boring to her. She needed to be on her feet doing anything. The house was spotless, so there wasn't any cleaning needing to be done. She went outside and looked at her mother's garden. It was very well tended to, so no help was needed there either.

After taking a stroll around her mothers garden and admiring all her mothers beautiful plants, she went back inside and took a seat on the couch. She picked up and old book that was sitting on the table next to her and began reading.

Three hours had passed by, but still Yuri had not returned home. It was only two O'clock right now, but it seemed like it should be later than that to Alice. Time was passing by so slowly for her. She was already almost finished with the book. It was fairly interesting, but she really had no clue what was going on. Her eyes passed over the words on the thin pages, but her mind didn't try to understand them. Her mind was some place else any way, so she couldn't focus on it right now. She barely even knew the main characters name.

Another hour passed by and now Alice was completely finished with the book, even though she truly didn't read it. She lay the book back down and looked around, letting out a small sigh. Suddenly she heard the sound of a door opening. Her head perked up and she looked to entrance to the living room. She waited there for a moment, waiting to see if it was Yuri who was going to walk through the entrance.

Sure enough, it was Yuri. He looked over to her and chuckled. "You looked bored out of your mind," he said to her, putting his hand on his hip and leaning back against the wall, just watching her.

Alice smiled slightly and nodded, "I am," she replied. There was a moment of silence between them, and she noticed Yuri was just staring at her with a kind smile on his face. She looked around for a moment, then asked, "What?"

Yuri shook his head and stood up straight again, then said, "Oh, it's nothing." He turned his back to her, then looked back and motioned his head for her to follow him. "As I was walking through the town I saw a small little park. It looked real nice, and I thought you might like it. Care to take a walk?"

Alice tilted her head to the side and nodded, "Uh, sure," she replied. "What did you do while you were walking through town anyway?" she asked him curiously.

Yuri just looked back at her and smiled, "Tell you later, ok?"


	4. Chapter 4

Alice and Yuri didn't speak much as they walked through the town. Alice glanced over at Yuri, and wondered what in the world he did in town. Yuri didn't seem to notice how Alice was staring at him. He just continued to walk with his hands behind his head and a small smile on his face.

As the two got to the park Yuri turned to Alice and randomly asked, "Hey, what do you like better: sunsets or a clear night sky?" He stopped and looked at her, waiting patiently for her answer.

Alice cocked her head to the side and watched Yuri for a moment. Why the random question, she thought. "Well, both are quiet beautiful, but I think I'd have to pick a sunset. There are more wonderful colors in a good sunset than a stary sky," she decided. "Why do you want to know?"

Yuri eyed her for a moment and arched his eyebrow. "What, I can't ask you a simple question anymore without getting interrogated?" he said, bringing his arms down from behind his head and folding them across his chest.

Alice scuffed her feet a little and stared at the sidewalk and said, "Well, no, I just wanted to know why you wanted to know."

Yuri shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I guess it just came to me. There wasn't a conversation going on, and well I didn't like walking in the silence. Now there's a conversation going, and I like it better."

Alice stared at him for a moment and started to giggle. She could always tell when Yuri was trying to lie. Well, at least lie to her. For some reason he would get really serious and defensive, but only when he lied to her. "You're a bad liar," she told him.

Yuri frowned and looked ahead of him. "What are you talking about? I'm not lying. Why would I lie?" he questioned.

Alice shrugged her shoulders and smirked. She enjoyed catching him in his lie. "Well, simply because your trying to hide something from me. Does it have something to do with what you were doing out in town earlier?" she asked curiously.

Yuri knew he wasn't going to get by Alice now since she knew for sure he was lying. He let out a long breath and smiled slightly, "It might," he replied. He then put his hands back behind his head and continued, "But I'm not gonna to tell you. I was gonna later in the day like I said, but not anymore."

Alice blinked. She was astonished by how fast the tables were turned against her. "Why not? Come one tell me what you were doing, please." She looked at him innocently, giving a sort of puppy dog look to sucker him into telling her.

Yuri looked at her and grimaced. She looked so cute, but yet sad at the same moment. He opened his mouth for a moment, then closed it and shook his head, closing his eyes. "Nope, not gonna work Alice. I'm not tellin' you."

Alice folded her arms and sighed, "Fine then," she said in a defeated tone.

There was a long silence between the two. It only lasted for about thirty minutes before they began to talk again once they were actually at the park. There wasn't much to at the park but walk and talk, and that's just what they did. For about three hours they did that. Yuri looked up at the sky for a moment, then turned to Alice and said, "Hey come this way. There's a place on the other side of the park that I wanna show you."

Alice nodded. Yuri took Alice's hand and grasped it gently in his and led her through the park quickly. He looked a little lost for a few moments, but quickly remembered which way to go. Alice looked ahead and saw what looked like a large lake coming up. She hadn't realized it until now, but they had been walking around for quiet some time, because as they approached the lake Alice could see that the sun would soon be setting behind the horizon.

Alice looked over a Yuri and smiled slightly, and thought back to the question he asked her earlier, about whether she had liked sunsets or night sky's better. 'He was going to take me here today either way. My answer just dictated the time,' she thought to herself as they soon stood halfway across a small bridge out on the lake. Alice admired the view, and the trouble Yuri went through to find this spot. Was that what he was up to all day, trying to find somewhere special to take her? She pondered on the thought for a little while, but soon was swept away by the beauty of the sky as it morphed into swirls of red, orange, pink, and even a little purple.

Even Yuri just leaned over the railing of the bridge to watch the event, captivated by the view. He never really took the time to sit back and watch a sunset, but then again he was usually always on his feet, and never had the time to enjoy something like this. "Pretty, huh?" he said softly to Alice, still gazing out into the horizon.

Alice took her stare away from the sun, and looked at Yuri. He looked so peaceful at that moment. She just smiled and watched him for a moment, before nodding and replying simply, "Yeah." She had just turned her attention back to the sunset, when all of a sudden she felt Yuri's warm embrace as he wrapped his arms around her from behind, placing his head down on her shoulder. Alice smiled again, even larger this time, and leaned back against Yuri and rested her head against his.

There was a special moment between them just then, the one every one wants to have. They lifted their heads slightly and exchanged loving glances with each other. Then, Yuri slowly raised his hand up and put it gently against Alice's cheek, and turned her head towards him more, pulling her into a passionate kiss. They remained in a nice little lip lock for approximately ten seconds. It ended abruptly when Yuri pushed something solid into Alice's mouth with his tongue.

Alice pulled back and gave him a bewildered look as she stepped back. She opened her mouth and spat out what ever it was that Yuri pushed into her mouth into her hand. It took a second for her brain to register what it was, and when she did she looked up at Yuri in shock. It was an exquisite diamond ring.

Yuri watched Alice for a moment and swallowed hard. All day he'd been going through what he wanted to say in his mind, but now that the moment was here, he froze. He didn't know what to do now, and what was done was done and there wasn't any turning back now. He turned his back to Alice and rubbed the back of his head, thinking that if he didn't see her he wouldn't be as embarrassed as he was right now. "Alice…" he began, "I know that we really haven't had a relationship for a very long time, but… well… I-I've been in love with you for so much longer than that."

Yuri could feel the heat radiating from his cheeks, and he felt that his knees were getting weak. He didn't know that proposing was going to be this hard. He took another big gulp and continued on, "…You, you're the only one that truly understands me out of every one I know. For a long time I was dead inside, but you made me see there was so much more to live for. You've made me finally understand what happiness is, and now that I have it, I don't want to loose it. If you feel this is rushed, I'm really sorry, and you can say no, but I had to do this because I really feel that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, by your side."

He couldn't stop thinking about how terrible it all came out. He had so many better words he rehearsed in his head earlier, but now they were just a rambling form of what he wanted to say. He was almost afraid to turn around to see the look on her face. He didn't want her to reject him, but he could understand it if she did. He bit his lip nervously, and slowly turned around. "So, Alice Elliot, will you marry me?" he said finally. He didn't want to make his little speech sound worse than it already did, so he decided to ask her now instead of rambling on some more.

Alice stood there, staring at him, trying to find her voice. She would never have guessed that this was what he had been doing all day in the town. Finally, her voice returned to her, and she replied to his question with a large smile, "Of course, Yuri."

((Yeah some of you probably saw that coming, oh, but just you wait till things get more involved in the second shadow hearts game. Muahaha. Any way, sorry about the slowness again, and I haven't gotten the chance to really sit down and play shadow hearts and all. I'm kind of busy. I have three AP classes at school, work, and softball to worry about this semester, so don't expect much more anytime soon.))


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Shadow Hearts, but I wish I did cause then I would definitely make a fourth one

Disclaimer: I don't own Shadow Hearts, but I wish I did cause then I would definitely make a fourth one. .

Elizabeth was ecstatic to hear the joyful news. She threw her arms around her daughter's neck and exclaimed, "Congratulations! Oh my, we have much to plan!"

Alice hugged her mother warmly and glanced up at her future husband to stare into those unique eyes that she loved so much. Yuri looked back just as intensely and wondered if he could ever be happier than he at this moment.

Elizabeth, in excited state, locked her hands around her daughters own and pulled her into the dinning room to begin the frantic planning. Alice didn't see why they had to being everything right this minute, but if it made her mother happy then she wouldn't say anything. "Oh Alice, you could wear my dress! You would look simply stunning in it, darling," Elizabeth said, running to her room to fetch the gown.

Alice saw the small hint of pain flash across her mothers face right before she stood from the table. Alice had always wanted to wear her mothers stunning bridal dress when the time came, but now she had an even bigger reason to wear the magnificent white gown. She knew how much her mother missed her deceased father. It hadn't been that long after his death, almost a year and a half ago.

Yuri took a seat next to his bride to be and took her hand, tangling his fingers around hers. When Elizabeth came back with the dress in her arms Yuri looked to Alice and tried to imagine her in the fabric. He grinned and leaned back in the chair when his mind began to wander a little off topic.

Time went by faster than any of them realized. Elizabeth didn't see any reason to wait that long for the couple to be wed, so it would take place next month. Elizabeth said that she would take care of all the church arrangements and began to think of all the family she should invite. This stopped Yuri's thoughts dead in their tracks. Who was he going to invite?

Yuri leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling with a blank expression. The two people he would have wanted to attend this wedding more than anything were dead, and any distant relative he may have possessed were lost in his childhood memories.

"So, Yuri, who would you like to invite?" Elizabeth asked kindly.

Yuri was silent.

Alice squeezed her lovers hand and stared at him compassionately. "Mother, I--" she began to say, but Yuri unexpectedly cut her off.

"I got a few people I could invite," Yuri said, looking at Elizabeth with a wide smile. "Yeah, uh, lets see here… there's the qua—err, Li Zhuzhen, Margarete Zelle...if you can find her, uhm, Keith Valentine…if he's awake, and Koudelka Iasant and her son Halley Brancket… though they're in America I doubt they'll show."

Elizabeth wrote down the names on a piece of paper, only pausing for a moment to wonder what 'if he's awake' meant. Unlike Alice and he father Elizabeth was somewhat naïve to the world of the supernatural. She knew some things existed, but she had not seen anything compared to her daughter.

Elizabeth was pleased at how far they had gotten in such a short amount of time. She assured Alice and Yuri that she would have everything taken care of. Alice didn't want her mother to do all the work, but she soon saw that her mother needed this right now. She needed something to do. She had been alone for so long and now she had something to keep her mind off everything, so Alice gave in without much resistance.

It wasn't until midnight rolled around that the three actually got around to retiring to their room. "I hope they all come to the wedding. I mean, it was only two weeks ago that we saw them, but I already miss them. Before I couldn't get away from some of them, but now that they're gone… I really miss them," Alice said, taking a seat at the edge of her bed.

Yuri sat behind his future wife and put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them lightly. "I dunno if I can say that I miss em', but I wouldn't mind seeing them again," he replied.

Alice laughed and got comfortable. "You say that, but I think deep down you miss them just as much as I do."

"Yeah. I just look big and tough, but deep down I'm just a teddy bear, right?" Yuri remarked sarcastically, slipping his arms around Alice's waist.

"I think so," Alice giggled and took his hands in her own, turning her head to the side and leaning her head back.

Yuri smiled and leaned his head against his fiancées', trailing his nose against her jawline while whispering, "Hm, maybe to you I guess."

Alice nodded slowly, turning her body towards Yuri and bringing her lips softly against his. Yuri trailed his fingers down her back, while the other arm hooked under her legs to bring her into his lap. They were both hesitant to be this close to one another. They weren't nervous with each other, but they were both expecting for someone to burst through the door. Ever since they declared themselves to one another, it was inevitable that they would never get a moment together alone together.

Yuri half expected Margarete to barge in—Yuri believed it was always on purpose—and ruin what ever moment there was between the two. He laughed at the notion and shifted the body in his arms onto the bed and held himself over her, breaking the kiss to look into her deep blue eyes.

Alice reached up and gently stroked Yuri's cheek while she stared back into his green blue orbs.

"Alice?" Yuri said softly.

"Yes?"

"I love you," Yuri answered softly, brushing her bangs back.

Alice smiled. "I love you too." She moved her hand around and planted it firmly behind his head, pulling him down so that their lips could crash against one another.

((Yeah, a little vague, but I'm just trying to move it along as fast as I can so I can get to the real good stuff.))


End file.
